Here are some images that caught my eye on July 2, 2016 in Eugene, Oregon during the United States Olympic Trials, the second day of the meet to choose America’s representatives in Rio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As exotic as Peter Allen’s lyrical invitation may be, I am not going to Rio. Day-Jena-Arrow.  As close as I’m getting is Eugene, Oregon, home of the U.S. Olympic Trials for Track and Field. I was in TrackTown for last weekend’s events and wanted to share a few images that caught my eye.

Even though I’ve been following track and field intently since the 1972 Olympics,  this was my the first major track meet I’d ever attended. In fact, it’s actually the only one I’d ever seen in full other than my own high school meets more than 35 years ago.

From seeing many of the heroes of my day paraded out to wave to the crowd and bestow medals upon this year’s team, to the (literally) ups and downs of competitive racing, to the sheer magnificence of the athletes performing with so much at stake, it was a weekend to remember.

Here’s some of what I remember from Day One.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a day where snow is going to prevent many of us from running, I am left to think back about some of the most memorable runs of 2015.

And while here’s no place I love running more than in New York’s Central Park, I think my favorite NYC run this year was when I was on my way to the park but never got there.

You see, as I headed out of my midtown hotel on a Sunday am in December, I ran smack into something that immediately diverted me from my route to the park.

I mean how could I look away once I saw this?

I don’t get a ton of giddy, happy smiles and leaping tutus in midtown Manhattan, even during the Christmas season.   But there they were, a frolicking pack of jolly runners having way too much fun to ignore.

I instantly recognized that my new destination was the journey with these folks

“How far are you guys going?,” I asked one of the women who had the biggest smile of the crowd.  “Oh I don’t know,” she said. “We are doing the letters run.”

I had no idea what a letters run was, but she was cute. And cute is cute and fun is fun, so I asked if I could join in and she enthusiastically welcomed me to the club. I thought maybe they were with the post office

As we went on, it seemed less like a delivery route and like the kind of run I often do in my own town. We ran through the streets seemingly at random.  We’d go a block, turn, go another block turn, stop, start.

Not exactly a rigorous training run, but more like the kind of playful romp I advocate as the best remedy to bring fun and spontaneity to an otherwise monotonous running routine.

Not only did we keep stopping for group photos…

….. but I was quickly volunteered to be the club photographer.

 

As it turns out this  run was not random at all.  In fact, it was an annual ritual of one of New Jersey’s more active running clubs, the Raritan Valley Road Runners.

Our path wasn’t just following the whims of the pack leader, it was a very precise attempt to spell out the initials of the club, RVRR, on the GPS watches of the group.

 

When a run is more play than work, it is, by definition, a good run.  No matter how you spell it, this was a good run.

And I have the smiles to prove it– and Raritan Valley Road Runners to thank for it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s an assortment of images that struck me at the USATF National Club Cross Country Championship at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.   I’m working on some putting together some thoughts on my race, but until then have a peek at what it looked like to be there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to Syracuse University, a basketball school that also played football and has a pretty decent journalism school.  When those seasons inevitably ended without satisfaction, we turned our attention to the one sport we dominated– lacrosse.  As far as I knew then, those were the only sports offered at Syracuse.

Apparently, I was wrong.  So wrong, I didn’t even know my alma mater had won a national championship in another sport until I found the news on Runnersworld.com while searching for my own feature article on the very same sport: cross country.   (Here’s my article, by the way.  It’s called Cross Country Romance and it’s about my deep abiding love for the sport, which I rediscovered by running my first race since before I even enrolled at Syracuse 35 years ago!).

So my congratulations are slightly belated, but very much in order to coach Chris Fox and the Orange for topping #1 ranked Colorado, the legendary program immortalized in one of running’s great books, Running With the Buffaloes. I have that book within arm’s reach as I write this and am thrilled to know that the Boys of Syracuse could go head-to-head with Coach Wetmore’s squad and win one for homegrown New York state runners like me.

Here’s the Runners Times article on the  historic victory, Syracuse’s first XC national championship in 64 years.

Next weekend, I’ll be in San Francisco for the United States Track and Field Club National Club Cross Country Championships. I’ll be lining up on Saturday at 10:45am against a field of masters runners for a 10K that is considered by many to be the most competitive masters field of any race in the U.S. all year.

This year,  I am among the favorites in my race, which is for men 40+.  And by favorite, I mean favorite to finish last.  Seriously.  I’m not exaggerating.  At last year’s Club Nats, in my hometown of Bethlehem, PA, I came in 513 out of 598, and of of the 85 guys I finished ahead of, only 17 were under 60.  Runners over 60+ will be in a separate race this year, so if my fellow back-of-the-packer 50somethings don’t make the long trip across country to this race, I may be the 2015 Club Nats Mr. Irrelevant.

So why in the world would I plunk down $1,000 for a plane and hotel room to run somewhere around 50 minutes for the privilege of finishing last in a race?

Here’s why. Click on the link below to see my article in the September 2015 edition of Runners’ World.  Hint: the article is called Cross Country Romance.

Yesterday was a perfect day for running the Philadelphia Marathon and a pretty darn good day for watching it, too.   I spent the day chasing and pacing a couple friends who were running and had an especially fun time out on Kelly Drive with the signs that spectators made to cheer the runners and poke fun at the absurdity of running a marathon.    Here’s a dozen and a deuce that caught my eye.  (With apologies, please note I’m taking my Iphone this week for repair as part of the iSight Camera Replacement Program.  Crisper photos to follow immediately thereafter).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPDATED. Complete report now available! NASA claims these unaltered images, transmitted from the surface of Mars by the rover Curiosity, are ordinary rock formations.  CNN theorized that the internet had lost its mind.  But a closer examination has revealed another story.  Judge for yourself these 11 Signs There is Running On Mars.

For more insights into the hidden world of running, subscribe now to TakingMulligans.com, like our page on Facebook and follow me on Twitter (scroll to top of page).

You can also find my work in Runners World (September 2013, September 2015)  and in my upcoming book, Running Back the Clock.

Despite mounting evidence, NASA refuses to confirm signs of running on Mars. NASA’s official positions is that the images transmitted from the surface of Mars by the rover Curiosity are nothing more than ordinary rock formations.  But a closer examination of these photos by our research team has revealed quite another story.  Judge for yourself these 11 Signs There is Running On Mars.  More signs to follow shortly, pending NASA security clearance.

No. 11 Cross-Legged Woman Waiting at Port-o-Potty